Tag: MACC

More interesting things are taking place on social media and in late nights when I do have the time, I usually spent it on surfing through Facebook instead of writing a post for the blog. Another is that I have gone “back to school” and I managed to get one of the certificate that I targeted to get this year. Unfortunately it is just a start and I have another target to meet in the next few months. So, it is back to doing revisions and the dreaded homework in the coming months.

And times are tough and times are not right for one to simply sit back and take things easy. Work too have been piling up over the last few months and the expectations from both in and out of the organisation have been very, very demanding.

(A message by the first Prime Minister in 1988 that is still relevant in 2015. Dr M is feeling the same heat and frustrations that Tunku once had and this is called the law of karma. What is needed is to do the right things)

If one is reading on the history of Malaysia in the distinct future, he will note that the events that had been happening in 2nd half of this year as the most interesting ones in the history of Malaysia.

We all by now would have read about the USD700 million (RM2.6 billion) that went into Najib’s personal account – thanks to WSJ – and how some minions fought tooth and nail to deny that and say that it was a lie and is a conspiracy against a democratic elected government. And funny things started to happen – the Deputy Prime Minister was effectively got sacked, the PAC members investigating 1MDB was promoted to be Ministers and that effectively ended the PAC investigation and MACC (interesting determined to catch the big fish this time) was much harassed by the police and then RM2.6 billion turned out to be true and with another twist.

There are many articles, news feed and even blogs that have wrote its’ piece of the story, analysis and accusations but I think this one from the Old Man himself somehow summarises the situation in Malaysia at the moment and nails the questions and confusion that is prevailing on everyone’s mind:-

1. I used to enjoy being asked about Malaysia when I am abroad. But not now.

2. The foreigners and Malaysians living abroad ask, “What is happening to Malaysia?”

3. “It seems to be like one of those African or Arab countries.”

4. “It is totally corrupt. The currency has depreciated”. Etc. Etc.

5. I cannot answer truthfully. I cannot lie either. It is embarrassing. And all this is because of the 1MDB and Najib.

6. I began to feel there was something wrong with the 1MDB when The Edge published that it had bought power plants above market price and borrowed money paying commissions of 10% and interest rate of 5.9%.

7. I waited for the Government to deny that what was published by The Edge was correct. The Government did not. Then I know there was something very wrong.

8. Subsequently came the stories about a JV with Petrosaudi. It was too quick. Obviously no due diligence was done. Yet 1MDB paid 1 billion U.S. (3.8billion Ringgit) for its 40% share.

9. Then 1MDB paid another US 700 million to settle debts incurred by Petro-Saudi to Petro Saudi International. Why should 1MDB pay. The JV should pay.

10. But within 6 months of setting up the JV, it was dissolved. Had a good due diligence been done, this JV would not have been set up. Clearly it was not a viable proposition!

11. The 1.7 billion US should now be returned to 1MDB. But No! It was converted into a loan (Murabahah) to Petrosaudi. This is extremely unusual. If you could not work with Petrosaudi as a JV partner how could you give it such a huge loan.

12. Then the money seems to have disappeared. It was previously reported to be deposited in banks in Hong Kong and Seychelles, invested in something or other and was supposed to end up in the Cayman Islands.

13. Concerned Malaysians demanded that the money be returned to Malaysia. An announcement was made that a portion had been returned to Malaysia but was used to pay debts and other expenses. Malaysia wanted more information especially as a 2 billion Ringgit interest on loans could not be paid. 1MDB just had no money. So where is the money from the Caymans. Why should Ananda Krishnan offer 2 billion Ringgit to help pay the interest. Government had to provide a stand-by loan of RM900 million.

14. Things did not look right. Then 1MDB announced that the rest of the money from Cayman Islands had been received in cash. Arul, the CEO, claimed he saw the money. The PM said the money was deposited in a Singapore Bank. It was not brought back to Malaysia because Bank Negara would ask too many questions.

15. That seems to be an admission that something was not right with the money.

16. But Singapore is a financial centre. As such it must be even more careful that money brought in and deposited in its banks should be investigated, especially if the sum is large, running into billions.

17. And sure enough the Monetary Authority of Singapore stated publicly that no 1MDB Malaysian money came into the country. The Swiss Bank which was named as the bank where the money was deposited denied 1MDB had deposited money with it.

18. So where were the billions of Ringgits or Dollars that 1MDB claimed it had brought back from the Caymans. Arul Kandasamy had openly claimed he saw the money.

19. Now the PM declared that it was not money. It was units. The bank where it was deposited was not named.

20. What units were these. Not units in Unit Trust Funds certainly. No explanation is forth coming. The billions of dollars have again disappeared.

21. Then the Wall Street Journal reported that Dato Sri Najib has USD700 million in his account in the Arab Malaysian Bank in Kuala Lumpur. That is about 2.6 billion Ringgit. How did this huge sum of money get into Najib’s Private Account. Where did the money come from!! How can the PM of Malaysia whose pay is only RM20,000 per month have so much money in his private account?

22. Unable to deny the Wall Street Journal report which included the account number and other details, Najib claimed that it was a donation.

23. Who in the world would donate USD700 million to the Malaysian Prime Minister? Even Obama could not raise this amount for his Presidential bid. It was suggested it was an Arab.

24. Arabs are generous, but not that generous. I could not raise even a single dollar from them for the Malaysian International Islamic University or for the Oxford Islamic Centre. This claim that Arabs donated billions is what people describe as hogwash or bullshit. Certainly I don’t believe it and neither can the majority of Malaysians if we go by the comments on the social media. The world had a good laugh.

25. When asked, the PM said wait for the report on 1MDB by the Auditor–General and the Public Accounts Committee.

26. To the UMNO divisional leaders and assorted bedfellows the PM in close-door meetings, claimed the billions were for the elections.

27. The 2 billion Ringgit plus for elections is absurd. I needed less than 10 million for each of the five elections I presided over and I won them all with more than 2/3 majority. Why do you need 2.6 billion plus or 2600 million Ringgit. Is it to bribe politicians and civil servants, or to rig the elections. That would not be right , much less legal.

28. Whatever, to me 2 billion plus for elections in Malaysia by any party is wrong even if no limit is put on election expenses.

29. Then there is this lavish life-style which no Malaysian Prime Minister would be able to afford on the RM20,000 per month he receives. Engagement and weddings lavishness far surpassed those of the Rulers even. Several ceremonies were held in Malaysia and also in Kazakhstan. Guests were loaded with gifts from the host. Clearly millions, tens of millions were spent, far beyond what a Malaysian PM can afford.

30. Then there is the son’s investment of hundreds of millions in producing the film The Wolf of Wall Street. It is so pornographic that it cannot be shown in Malaysia. Where did the money come from!

31. The shopping in London, Paris and elsewhere is known to be enormous.

32. Clearly the PM and his wife have more money than the salaries and allowances paid to the PM.

33. After the Wall Street Journal reported on Najib’s 2.6 billion Ringgit in his private account, it was closed. You cannot take all that money to keep with you. It had to be transferred. Apparently it was transferred to a Singapore bank. Then the Singapore authorities froze it.

34. Public clamour about the origin of the money in Najib’s account was so loud that a task force comprising the head of four government institutions was set up. The Attorney General headed this task force and the members were the IGP, the Head of Bank Negara and the Head of MACC, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

35. Najib was clearly uncomfortable with the investigations carried out by the task force. The members seemed to be too independent. Najib could not control them. The task force was apparently determined to seek the truth about the 1MDB and the 2.6 billion Ringgit in Najib’s account. Najib’s claim that it was a donation was not convincing.

36. Then Najib decided to take action to stop all the investigations on 1MDB and his private account.

37. First he announced that people should stop talking about 1MDB. It was not just a hint but an open statement that such talk would be regarded as undermining democracy and an attempt to overthrow an elected leader. This would attract police attention and investigation.

38. Immediately following that the A.G. was sacked. In Malaysia’s legal system the A.G. determines whether a case would be heard in a court or not. The A.G. who seemed to be heading the task force would be in a position to take to the courts if there was evidence of criminality in Najib’s possession of the billions in his account.

39. The A.G’s removal means that he could no longer make any decision over the unprecedented wealth of Najib. A judge was made A.G. and clearly he is not interested in the task force and its investigations. He seemed determined to clear Najib.

40. Then the DPM was dismissed and replaced by the Minister of Home Affairs who unlike Muhyiddin, had never questioned Najib about 1MDB.

41. In the cabinet reshuffle four members of the Public Accounts Committee including its chairman were made deputy ministers. Effectively, the PAC was paralysed and the work of investigating 1MDB stopped.

42. Then the chief and deputy chief of MACC, a member of the task force of four were asked to go on leave. When some members of the staff of MACC continued their investigations and wanted to query Najib on the source of the money in his account, they were harassed by the police who accused them of leaking information. Then they were transferred to the PM’s department. That shut them up.

43. The Governor of the Central Bank, a member of the four-strong Task Force is now rumoured to be investigated for corruption.

44. With the PAC, and the Task Force paralysed and the A.G. sacked, investigation work on the 1MDB and the 2.6 billion in Najib’s private account grounds to a complete halt.

45. Najib is now safe from being charged with illegally amassing funds. His claim that it is to be used for the coming elections is half-true. He had always said that cash is king. With the huge funds at his disposal he would be in a position to bribe his way to victory. He may also use the money to rig the election.

46. What Najib is doing is unprecedented in Malaysia. The people are at a loss as to what to do. The prospect of Najib continuing to rule this country is utterly depressing. The Malaysia where elections can even see opposition parties winning whole states will be no more.

47. Democracy is dead. It is dead because an elected leader chooses to subvert the institutions of Government and make them his instruments for sustaining himself. There is no more democracy for anyone to undermine. Certainly talking about 1MDB will not undermine something that no longer exist. If anyone should be questioned by the police, it is Najib.

For a man who is 90 years old, he do throws in some good points and asks rather stinging questions. But then again, aren’t these same questions that has been on everyone’s mind as well?

It has nothing to do with toppling a democratic elected government as some politicians have claimed it to be (that allegation is dumb and sounds very desperate) but rather because it lacks the transparency and accountability. It was firstly denied that the money even existed and there were threats of law suits and it fizzled out. Then there was investigations but nothing have been concluded other than the RM2.6 billion is a donation. Who donated and why? The prime minister himself is keeping silent on this and allows the questions to remain unanswered. A minister said that it is from a brotherly nation and there is nothing wrong with it.

Nothing wrong with it – doesn’t that sound very frightening?

Nothing is free in this world and if they are willing to give billions to ensure certain parties win in the general election, what they want in return? Are they expecting Malaysia to return the favor in some other form? And on a lesser note, the donation had exceeded the allowed RM200,000 spending threshold for parliamentary seats according to electoral laws. Aren’t this obvious that laws been broken and yet nothing can be done?

We are still far off from having the ideal Government – there are some signs of promise with the oppositions but one still need to make sure that they don’t screw up at the nation level over petty issues (they often do like the dumb Kajang Move). We need to keep the politicians on their toes and should never accept whatever flimsy excuse that may be given in place of the real reasons.

Democracy is truly dead only if we stop questioning the politicians on their dubious dealings, stop questioning when billions of ringgit is deposited into personal accounts, stop making our votes count, fail to elect people who put the nation & service to the public first. It will never be an issue of race and religion because this country needs all of us and all of us have a heavy responsibility to make sure the country don’t get screwed up by people are corrupt to the core, have ulterior motives and is more worried about their personal positions than the impact on the nation as whole.

The politicians in this country, sad to say, have become rather immune to prosecutions, hard questioning and even accountability. Those who have found guilty on corruption and wrong-doing still roaming around freely. Things need to change. There must be an understanding that if you screw things up, you need to take responsibility and pay for it, one way or another. Only thing then, the country will be better and we can move forward.

(Only in Malaysia this happens on a regular basis and it is not a laughing matter. After all this country is best of the best when it comes to corruption free Government and corruption fighting agencies, eh?. Cartoon source: http://johnnyongcartoons.blogspot.com/)

Whilst we are largely pre-occupied with MH370 tragedy and have been keeping up our hopes for some kind of closure, some Malaysian politicians have been having some strange itchiness and have been trying to outdo each other in making themselves looking like an ass in public. Hmmm, is this the real reason why that old man, if given a chance, wanted to censor the internet?

World’s Most Corruption Free Country: Malaysia

It’s very obvious that some people in the country still living in a cocoon (perhaps high on coconut water). It must be one hard cocoon that they are living in as evident from this:-

Translated in simple English – Malaysia is one of the most corrupt FREE country in the world and has one of the best corruption fighting agency in the world (referring to MACC). Ok, I will wait for you to re-read the statement (mind you, it is coming from a seasoned Minister) and wait for the hard cold reality to hit you. I know, something is not right, right? Done that? Ok great. Now I will wait for you to laugh your heart out.

That is what happened to me when I first read this statement. I was speechless. I was in shock. I do not know which version of Malaysia that Shahidan is talking about (obviously exists in a galaxy far, far away) but it surely cannot be the same Malaysia that most of us are living in. The Malaysia that we live in has been ranked as one of the most corrupt nations by Ernst & Young. That is not a big revelation! We all know that for a long time now and we also know that MACC (the so-called best of the best) is toothless (can’t blame them) when it comes to nabbing those in political power when it comes to corruption (otherwise we would have seen certain Chief Minister behind bars a long time ago).

One of the sourest point in the search for MH370 is the failure for RMAF to correctly identify and intercept MH370 when it deviated from it’s original flight path. If this been done, we could have identify MH370 immediately and would not have wasted valuable time, resources and assets over the South China Sea for days.

Then the Deputy Minister of Defence revealed that RMAF assumed that the plane had turned back because the air traffic control had ordered them back. The part of RMAF “assumed” did not go well with many people – after all, we expect the military to be more precise and professional especially of those monitoring the air space above Malaysia. We expect them to be on high alert and track things out of the ordinary. We expect them to pick up the phone and give DCA a call. With all that technology and expensive military hardware, we had never expect them to work on assumption basis. That is why we were pissed off when the Minister said RMAF had assumed this and that.

Then we had a 180 degree turn:-

Deputy Defence Minister Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri today admitted he assumed that the Subang air traffic control had asked lost Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 to turn back, adding his assumption was not accurate.

“In relation to my statement in the debate for the Royal Address yesterday, in which I said MH370 did a turn back probably because it received instructions from air traffic control, I want to clarify that it was just my assumption and one of the possibilities that could have happened.

“After making checks, I would like to stress that my assumption is not accurate,” Abdul Rahim said in a terse two-paragraph statement in Kuala Lumpur today.

Now the joker turns around and say that it was he who made the assumption and not RMAF. Didn’t he check the facts before he opened his mouth in the Parliament? Did he misled the MPs then with unverified facts and wild assumptions? Doesn’t this borders to lying?

If this is not the case, then what would be the real reason for RMAF not scrambling their jets to intercept the rouge plane? Even if they claimed that DCA did not inform them of the missing plane, wouldn’t that make an even more compelling case for RMAF to scramble and intercept the plane? Someone obviously had slept on the job and it is very unsettling to know that we may have huge holes in our defence system. We still want to know what really happened otherwise we may find ourselves with another plane deviated from its flight path.

44 Firearms Lost – A Small Matter Only

It may sound like they had only lost 44 soiled underwear so we have “nothing” to worry but it is not the case:-

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is satisfied with the explanations given by police over its loss of assets, including 44 firearms highlighted in the 2012 Auditor General’s Report, said its chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed.

“The amount is quite small and does not justify further investigation,” he said, adding the loss of assets in any organisation is normal and this included the police force. “We have to accept there will be some losses when the police are on duty, but in terms of the overall firearms, the number of losses is quite small.

“It’s not significant. In audit terms, it’s not significant for us to warrant further investigation,” he told reporters after chairing the PAC meeting today.

Well, I don’t know about you but for me, what is important is not the number of items lost but rather what was lost. If the police had lost say 44 key-chains, it is nothing to shout about. But if you consider that the item lost is a firearm, then even a lost of 1 is a big issue. The police had lost 44 firearms. It could armed a small army to its teeth. It could be used for armed robberies and assassinations. It is significant and it does warrant further investigation. At end of the day, heads must roll and that is what we expect PAC to do. We don’t expect PAC to trivialize the 44 firearms lost and then sweep it under the carpet. Sigh, I sure hope PAC did not buy into the “fallen into the sea” crappy explanation and decided to close the issue. The outcome is very disappointing.

Too many newspapers will confuse Malaysians

Well, too much of something is not good for anyone – I agree but making the same case on newspapers and news is simply dumb (especially at this age of the internet):-

The Home Ministry had rejected FZ Daily and Malaysiakini’s application for publishing permits to protect the public from the confusion of having access to “too much news”.

“The (number of) newspaper publications with approved publishing permits is sufficient considering the number of readers in the country,” Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said in a parliamentary written reply Tuesday.

When the case was taken to the court, the High Court judge ruled that the Home Ministry’s rejection was “improper and irrational”. And the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court’s decision and thus reconfirming that the rejection was indeed “improper and irrational”. So telling off that having too many newspapers is a bad thing does test one’s logic. At the end of the day, it is all depends on the selling the right news (not the crappy & racial ones from you-know-which-newspaper) and having sizable readership to continue to run the newspaper. No one dies from having too much news. No one goes crazy from reading too many news. And at times (in Malaysia, make it “most of the time”), it makes more sense for one to actually read both side of the story and come out with the right conclusion.

At the end of the day, knowing what Malaysiakini published on the internet, it is nothing but a political laced decision to simply silence the critics and keep the truth on the wrongdoings from surfacing.

And to rub salt on the wound, here we go again – all knowing, charitable and most gracious, whiter than angel politicians wanting to protect the feeble, weak, dumb public from the great danger. If we need any kind of protection, there will be only one – protect us from dumb politicians and their propaganda. We all know why Zahid is shitting in his pants over the application for permit to publish by Malaysiakini. We are not as dumb as he wants us to be.

Well, anyway have a great weekend ahead. Let’s just hope by chance, some of the politicians would start using their brains and we’ll finally hear more intelligent statements from next week onwards.

(Well it was a big surprise to know that MACC had actually been “fingering” Taib on the allegations of corruption, at least not in the open and at least to a point where Taib is forced to make arrogant statement in the media but it was an even bigger surprise if the Government & MACC comes hard on Taib after this – after all, we have not see any “big fish” spending his / her last days in prison. Image source: http://fz.com)

When one is talking about “winnable candidates” and coming down clean for the voters to make the right decision, one cannot be far from dealing with the issue of corruption as well.

With the rather damaging revelations of broad-daylight corruption in Sarawak (now dubbed as the Shadow State) by the Global Witness and the growing call for MACC to make its investigations based on this revelation, we have this:-

“They [MACC] don’t deserve my cooperation because they have been naughty and dishonest with me. “Let them investigate if they want to victimise me,” Taib said after attending the Barisan Nasional presidential council meeting at the PWTC here today. Last month, foreign-based NGO Global Witness made a shocking exposé on the alleged corrupt practices involving those linked to Taib pertaining to the sale of native customary land in Sarawak.

Asked whether the video had tarnished his image in Sarawak, Taib replied in the negative, saying that the exposé was not in tune with what Sarawakians wanted.

Can Taib afford not to cooperate with MACC at a time when Najib desperately need to show that BN are far from the taint of any corruption? Does he has a choice in the first place? Does this means enforcement agencies like MACC is under the thumb and rule of such arrogant politicians? If the expose of corruption, tax evasion and gross abuse of government assets is not what the “Sarawakians wanted”, what else is then? That few can continue to enrich themselves with tax-payers money and native land whilst leaving the rest to remain under the poverty line but when investigations starts, turn around and claim that they have been victimised?

If Najib and MACC do not come hard (without the end result of Teoh Beng Hock of course) on this kind arrogance by politicians with shady background, then it is clear that a change of Government is grossly needed. Despite the past misgiving of MACC that resulted in people turning up dead and the lack of bite to go after the big fish in corruption, unfortunately it is still the only corruption agency in the country that was entrusted of fighting corruption on all levels.

So with Taib telling MACC off, does this means we have closed MACC down? Some seems to think so:-

What is the MACC to do now? All eyes are on the MACC, again.

After all, two people have died in the course of their investigations since they were set up in 2009. Will it back down and keep quiet after this brazen response from Taib? Won’t this kind of snub embolden others to thumb their nose at the MACC and refuse to cooperate too?

If the MACC doesn’t do anything about this response from Taib, it might as well close shop. It is already working on a trust deficit basis and this snub from Taib has just shown how powerless the commission can be when it comes head-to-head with the powerful.

Just because Taib had won the state seats for Najib, does it means Najib had to hold back any action on wrongdoings (some even borders high treason) in sheer gratitude? Otherwise corruption and mismanagement of funds will continue without any prosecutions and the nation bled to death and the same politicians will claim that they have done the best for the nation. Remember and vote wisely when the time comes even if you are not in Malaysia’s shadow state.

(It does not matter if they are from BN or from PR – whoever is corrupted to the core, wasteful and lives on the culture of fear and unreasonableness should not be rewarded but instead to be shown the exit from public office. Image source: Lim Kit Siang)

Despite the well known tragedy of William Yau, we still have dumb-ass buffaloes masquerading as parents and putting their innocent young children at great danger.

Please read this first:-

A mother watched in horror as a stranger got into the family car and drove off with her six-year-old daughter sleeping in the back seat, near here. She and her husband had earlier got out of the car, leaving the engine still running, to fetch their younger daughter at a daycare centre at Taman Kosas in Ampang at around 11.30pm on Saturday.

The stolen car and the young girl were found abandoned hours later at a restaurant in Setapak, about 10km away. The girl was unhurt.

After a numerous incidents of missing children, all hell broke loose with the disappearance of the young William Yau who later was found dead. No one knows how he died. No amount of regrets and apologies by his parents can ever bring him back. And after this tragic incident that shook the whole nation, we had expected parents to be extra careful with their children. These 2 buffaloes however proved all of us dead wrong. All the necessary recipe for another tragedy were all there:-

Both parents out of the car – they must be one heck of dumb ass to have 2 of them to fetch one young kid and why so late at 11.30 pm on a Saturday night (The parents were out busy partying?)

This could have easily turned to tragic by the seconds. What happens if the carjacker had decided to kidnap the girl and sold her to child trafficking syndicate? Or decided to kill the kid off as how it happened in China? It is sad that some idiots never learn from other’s mistakes and if things goes dreadfully wrong; they ought to be held up for gross criminal negligence and their kids taken away for their own safety. The nation cannot afford to have another William Yau tragedy.

Ok, let’s leave that for a moment – I just wanted to get that out in the open and hope all parents out there will be more careful on the aspect of safety of their kids. Don’t be like the above 2 dumb buffaloes who almost lost their kid to a stranger.

General elections are around the corner – there has been an increased obsession with Anwar’s so-called videos tying him on unnatural relationships with girls and boys. Before this, other than Sodomy 2, they had nothing much to gain on to paint the oppositions in bad light other than the loose alliance between DAP-PKR-PAS (you just need one clown to be unhappy and make statements on the mainstream media and immediately the rest of them jumps to a conclusion that Pakatan Rakyat is breaking away, unstable and will be a great danger to stability of the country if they were voted in). Now they are back on the alleged Anwar’s interest in another’s butt – with new videos and indirect assumptions (even the lovely Nurul Izzah was not spared). More is expected, of course.

But then if sex is the only overriding criteria to kick unworthy politicians from running for office in the coming elections, then what about this, this, this and this? Didn’t we were able to move over this rather sensitive issue and looked at politicians (so we think) who can get the job done in the past? If BN insists on this issue, then shouldn’t the same politicians (who now hold prominent positions) implicated in the past, should not be left to run for or hold any position to this date?

On a state level, they had tried hard with the water issue in Selangor but it did not really work there, not after it was proven that the cause of the water problem was due to maintenance and not lack of treated water (earlier they were so bent on the lack of raw water in the state which in the end was proven to be untrue) and after the Selangor Government made the offer to buy off the water concessions & their debts. And now the attack has focused against the proposed underground tunnel in Penang (read the Open Letter from Lim Guan Eng here and CAP’s reply here who seems to be whacking BN more than PR). Don’t tell me that no one in the world had done a similar underground tunnel but got screwed left, right and centre? Then what about the SMART tunnel?

That’s fine – we had already expected that the events leading to the general elections will be as tense as possible. And blaming each other on problems, mismanagement and abuse is nothing new of course – Pakatan fellows are doing the same, fair and square. At the end of the day, what is more important is not whether the leaders are involved in some abnormal relationships but rather whether they are smart, unbiased, not corrupted & hard-working enough to bring this country up to developed & corruption-free country status.

But then on the other side of the spectrum, just make sure that you are not losing sight of other main issues in the midst of general election campaigns, propagandas and stories in the mainstream media – there has been only silence on the rather uncontrolled and mismanagement of public funds in form of BRIM (1.0 & 2.0 & more coming up soon), pay increases to civil servants and one-off gifts such as this:-

Putrajaya awarded 1,000 individual permits to taxi drivers today and promised more soon with Datuk Seri Najib Razak saying it was proof that the Barisan Nasional (BN) government fulfills its promises. The announcement comes as part of the administration’s move to ward off potential voter backlash from some 80,000 registered taxi drivers nationwide, who have been angered by delayed reforms in the industry.

“What did I promise? I had promised individual permits to taxi drivers. Even though there are many companies that gave jobs to you, some had exploited tantamount to a slavery system of the past. “Ini satu lagi janji ditepati kerajaan (This is one more of the promises fulfilled by the government),” Najib told some 5,000 taxi drivers at the permit distribution event held at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre here.

They must have been paid good money for the taxi-drivers to show up for the event. After all these years of ignoring the taxi-drivers’ pleas for individual permits, there is no secret why Najib decides to give them now not without a catch to this deal of course – it is only available for a specific Proton model which may not be cost effective to some struggling taxi drivers and apparently 1,000 permits given away is actually owned by taxi companies, which are “giving up them as part of their corporate social responsibility”.

One has to wonder how much of arm twisting and carrots were dangled for these taxi companies to “give up” the profitable permits. Or perhaps 1.000 taxi permits were nothing but chicken feed to this people – so giving up would not be nothing big. In the end the problem is still there but apparently the long term solution will only come in if the taxi drivers are “grateful” to the government:-

Najib made this clear when he said today the decision to award the direct licences reflected the ruling coalition’s seriousness in safeguarding the welfare of taxi drivers.

“Let’s create this bai’ah (co-operation) among us. We can give more licences apart from this one. You have to bai’ah with the government. “Do not forget the government’s goodwill,” he said.

Another case of you scratch my back, I will scratch yours?

If you have missed reading in between the lines, whatever money being dished out by Najib to keep the voters happy (and ask them to be grateful) actually comes from tax-payers. It is a matter of taking out from the right pocket and putting it in the left pocket. So why should we be grateful? Does this is part and parcel of the Government’s job to collect taxes and distribute accordingly?

To keep throwing money just because the election is around the corner does not really help the country in the long run and asking the people to be grateful for the money they received is nothing but a salt rub on a wound with a smile. But other than the opposition, no one else seemed to be bothered to ask the Government on how they managing the sudden influx of money and where it is being scrapped from? The question that everyone should be asking is whether Malaysia is really flushing with money?

Yes, everyone’s agrees that Taib is not in the video (one that the pro-BN blogs is arguing to compare to Anwar’s so-called sex videos). Then again, those who were videoed and admitted to acts of corruption, tax-evasion and crony-ism are not ordinary people. They are not the road side char keow teow seller or the man in sarong manning the small mamak stall. They are tightly tied to Taib and the circles of power and business magnates in Sarawak. Two of them are even well-known lawyers. And their admission of wrongdoing on camera should have been more than enough to slam them with criminal charges. So much so Taib need not be in the video to be implicated with serious accusations.

But then it seems like no one seemed to be interested on this case – not the PM (he is too busy giving away gifts to voters and pacifying the security forces in Sabah with pay rise and motivation talks). In times of general elections, understandably he may not want to mess up his “fixed deposit” in Sarawak. But he loses even more by keeping silent and passing the buck to the MACC. By now, everyone knows how MACC have limited powers and how they have operated in the past and many does not have confidence that MACC will get to the bottom of things.

MACC todate have only mentioned that they are “looking” into it and will “act accordingly” (of course, it does not strike anyone as being serious, not when there has been earlier reports and nothing had happened). But not all is lost – at least the Advocates Association of Sarawak (AAS) will be referring the two Sarawak lawyers implicated in the video to the Advocates Inquiry Committee, an independent disciplinary body separate from the AAS, to conduct its inquiry into possible instances of professional misconduct under laws and regulations governing the legal profession in Sarawak. But then again, it is a matter of going after the small fish whilst the bigger predators are still free to suck dry the wealth of the country.

There has been just plain denial from the Chief Minister implicated in the said video and any damage control from pro-BN sites came in this form:-

But was it really a sting operation? Could it be a well crafted conspiracy against Taib by his own kin who have the coveted Chief Minister’s seat at sight? I’m sure those who know what happened during Ming Court 1987 won’t be surprised with Norlia & Fatimah’s latest tune, would they?

A source has revealed to The Mole that Global Witness, the non-governmental organisation (NGO) responsible for the recent video that allegedly incriminates Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud in questionable land deals, has received funding from an organisation founded by currency speculator George Soros.

Ok fine, but why Taib have not sued those who implicated him in the video for criminal defamation? Why he has not called for a press conference and had set the records right on the accusations. Why the denial in the passing? After all, the accusations and admissions on video are very serious in nature where in some countries like China, if they are found guilty, faces the firing squad! If there is a so-called conspiracy against him, what more a better way to put away the competition / conspirators with defamation law suits and injunctions and help Najib with good PR along the way?

After all anyone can deny wrongdoing – it is a matter of one man’s say against another (yes, even if you are a Chief Minister) but if there is hard evidence that suggest otherwise, a mere denial is simply not enough. Those pro-BN sites should know better – they been whacking Anwar the same despite the numerous denials and multi-million ringgit lawsuits by Anwar. And they have always insisted that even very blurry video evidence is the hard proof of wrong-doing. The same should apply to Taib even though he is not in the video. And who really cares who funds Global Witness, what is more important is what was investigated and brought to the attention of common public – something that will never see the light of the day in BN funded media.

At end of the day, it does not matter if one supports BN or PR but if there is serious wrong-doings and whoever stands for public office is immoral, wasteful, corrupt, lazy, biased, and fully against a united Malaysia, they do not need our support and certainly our precious votes. They should be made answerable for all the things that they have done. So keep on top of the fairy tales, grandfather stories, grand fiction that are flying from both camps (trust me it will get a lot more worse and weird as we near the voting date) and vote wisely.

It is not hearsay; it is direct from the horse’s mouth. It is hard evidence of corruption and breach of trusts, tax-evasion by the millions, illegal land grab and the downright shaming of the ordinary citizen deep in the jungles of Sarawak. The video is not hazy – it is crystal clear.

There can have been few more devastating secret filming exposes than the confessions made by Taib’s closest family, a close lawyer and his cronies as they set about trying to sell the land handed to them by the Chief Minister in his capacity as the man who controls the Land and Survey Department and indeed the whole of Sarawak.

The territory they are selling off is described at ‘state land’, but in fact as Global Witness has established both the Hiis and the daughters of Tun Ya’kub have got hold of titles to Native Customary Rights (NCR) Lands, where indigenous people were granted rights many years ago and now face being driven from their homes.

They all make clear that it is Taib who makes all the decisions to give out the NCR lands.

They also make clear that he gave it to them because they are close cronies and that in return the greedy dictator expects a large slice of the profits.

Not only that, the entire gang of thieves conspire together to cheat the country of tax in the process. These are the tax rules made by the very government that Taib is part of and which he enforces against everyone else!

The question is what Najib, the AG and the MACC intends to do about this?

You cannot get a better admission of wrong-doing, corruption and tax-evasion than this?

This is a film that will have Malaysia talking. But, Malaysia will see that BN and Najib Razak will do nothing to move against this corrupted state leader, because they think that Taib can deliver them a ‘fixed deposit” of votes in the coming General Election. Is it time to prove them wrong?

Yes, can Najib prove us wrong? Will these wrong-doers be allowed a similar “23 days grace” before any action is taken?

(With elections around the corner, expect more incidents of talking cock to be sprouting out from the foamy mouth of the many half-past-six politicians around the country and on a more regular basis too. Image source: http://www.olx.com.sg)

In Malaysia, I think we have come to a point where we can take in usual talk cock from the politicians in this country on a regular basis but when it comes to the Prime Minister himself talking cock and even though you may say that you have see it all, heard it all, you should know that at this level, even talking cock has it’s limit

I do not know what kind of “super-powers” that the BN Government intends to empower MACC in the future – perhaps that all important power to prosecute or perhaps able to throw witnesses from the windows legally, I don’t know but why wait until the next general elections?

Isn’t BN already running the show at the Federal level and despite oppositions and MP walking out, have easily passed two suppressive laws in recent times? I am sure that if the BN Government is empowering MACC with enough powers to hang those who commit corruption up on a high pole, Pakatan politicians and the rakyat would be very supportive as well. There is really no need for two-thirds control of the Parliament and no need to wait for the general elections (unless it is going to enact laws that make obvious incidents like NFC untouchable to anyone).

Voters are not dungus and they don’t like to be taken for a ride – it is easy to see clearly when one is talking cock – loud and clear

It could be just an hypothetical question but here’s one last post before the holidays…

This article by Citizen Nades on the NFC mess was a good one and if you had missed reading this in The Sun last Wednesday, here it is in verbatim (basically it nails the same thing that every tax payer has in their mind):-

Be honest and answer all questions R. Nadeswaran

RULE No 1 in a calamity, according to the gurus of crisis communications, is that you should never run away from a problem as it will not bring about a solution. The more you try to hide, the more will be out in the open. You can never solve a crisis by remaining silent. The more you put a spin on a crisis, the more attention it attracts. The golden rule is: Be honest and answer all questions.

Today’s column is not an exercise in public relations or crisis communications, but three bulletins from Ghazalie Abdullah who describes himself as one who “counsels, writes, speaks, designs, articulates and steers corporations on using public relations to achieve their corporate, financial and marketing goals” provoked some thought into the whole affair involving the National Feedlot Corporation.

On Dec 23 last year, journalists received a statement from Ghazali which read: “As part of the ongoing investigations, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers visited National Feedlot Corporation Sdn Bhd today. The management and staff welcomed the visit and extended their full cooperation. It is the view of the National Feedlot Corporation that this afternoon’s visit by the MACC was not a raid as reported.”
Really? Did they come for Darjeeling tea, muffins and scones or teh tarik and kuih? Perhaps a dictionary would have helped explain the meaning of the word “raid”. If they came a visiting like we visit each other’s open houses, would they be carting away CPUs and files?

The second followed a day later. It said that “NFC Chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Salleh Ismail wishes to clarify to the media that the Datuk apprehended by the police recently, is not related to him or any member of his family.”

How did anyone know the identity of the Datuk when the police had not even produced him in court or charged him? Ghazali must be aware that the media in Malaysia never identify any suspect or arrested person unless he or she is charged with an offence. Surely, Salleh or Ghazali must have had inside information!

But what arrived in the inbox two days ago was something extraordinary. For starters, the statement said: “With police investigations on NFC reported concluded, NFC has today emerged to clarify the allegation that directors of the company have been receiving huge unjustifiable salaries.”

Who decides if the police have concluded investigations, and even if they have done so, it is for the police to say so. Emerged? From where – from hiding or from a taxpayer-funded holiday?

Executive director Wan Shahinur Izmir Salleh clarified that the directors were earning nowhere near the overstated figures saying that the relevant authorities have the information on their payroll and the bank statements to match.

On a more serious note, I believe him because there has been no documentary evidence presented by the claimants to back the figures which looked exaggerated. But instead of facing the media and answering the questions, why has the company which has “emerged” hiding behind statements?

Wan Shahinur not only assured but “reassured the public should not be unduly alarmed by such postings in the internet that offered distortions and incorrect information.”

Thank you, but how can taxpayers be assured if the amounts have been distorted when the correct figures have not been presented?

He also says the expenses incurred on corporate credit cards were for business development. The business development expenses by the four directors, he says, reflect the magnitude of its multi-million ringgit sales.

But can he tell how much such expenses were. After all, it was taxpayers’ money to the tune of RM250 million that got the NFC going and technically, we are all stakeholders and have a right to know.

While the NFC can beat its chest and claim it has “emerged”, there’re only bits and pieces of information that are “emerging”. It has not denied the purchase of condominium units in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore and would NFC care about telling us about the purchase?

Surely, if it was the figment of imagination of some anonymous writer in cyberspace, all right-thinking people will disbelieve him or her. But at media conferences, documents and photographs have been produced to substantiate the claims and the “emergence” of NFC has not seen it fit to tackle these issues.

As much as this writer wants to believe that everything is above board, it becomes painful when selected issues are addressed.

This problem will not go away with terse and selective statements. There’s a Tamil proverb which says that you cannot hide a whole pumpkin in a plate of rice, which is exactly what NFC is trying to do.

Once and for all, put all the cards on the table, come clean and put up your hands if you have done wrong. Only then will the whole nation believe anything that comes from NFC itself or through consultants and counsellors.

R. Nadeswaran says the public has a right to know how taxpayers’ funds are used when the government doles them out to entrepreneurs. He is theSun‘s UK correspondent based in London and can be reached at: citizen-nades@thesundaily.com

The allegations of misuse of public funds by NFC stakeholders has been mind boggling – from buying condominiums to settlement of personal credit cards. I am not sure where it will end. The authorities are investigating these allegations of course and the Minister in question has been asked to go on a long leave and NFC’s assets frozen. Now she is suing back too and this may drag things further, at least at the political arena. But basic and simple answer to questions raised is what we want at the end of the day